My Number’s Up

by Erin on April 18, 2011

So I played hooky from my overflowing email inbox on Saturday (um, if you're waiting on something from me, I'm sorry) and finally hit Urban Burp, the oddly-named vintage fabric store in San Francisco. I had a Groupon (thanks to a tip from Mena at Sew Weekly) and it was burning a hole in my wallet.

I bumbled around for a bit — UB is heavy on the mid-century barkcloth, great for upholstering chairs, but not so much for upholstering one's self — until finally I saw the "juveniles" section (up on a high shelf, counterintuitively) and this great 1960s fabric. (I will let someone else point out how often I seem to find the fabric I'm looking for in the "juvenile prints" section, and how fitting that is, given my personality.)

I forgot to include anything in the photo for scale, so let me just say: these numbers are BIG. (We're puttin' up big numbers here, folks.) The six above is a little shorter than a pencil. This will probably end up as a shirtdress. I'll have to fondle it for a while first, though, to be sure …

Electra at UB was extremely friendly and helpful — I think I'll be going back!

I too, am often attracted to novelty print cottons. I used to worry about the group of fabrics that that were just a little over the top, even for me. Once I made a great summer robe from lavender cotton with 12″ tall colouring book mermaids on it, I embraced the “too wild and crazy”. I wear uniforms at work, so t-shirts and PJ pants (yes, pants) are my play clothes for around the house, and they are some wild and crazy pants, I’ll have you know. Oh, and I have wonderful reusable grocery bags. And quilting, and, and, and,…………………. I no longer fear my “mistakes”.

I recently finished your book and wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed it. Great story, great characters and of course I loved the Secret Lives stories. Next time can we have an appendix with the eye candy pictures that inspired the stories? Umm, there will be a next time, won’t there?